Swiss Army Man

Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinart, 2016

IMDB

3/5

There hasn't been a movie made quite like Swiss Army Man, and theres a good chance there wont be another. Surely nobody has seen a movie about a morose castaway that befriends a farting corpse. Perhaps the best way to describe this film is to say its like Cast Away on mushrooms. The movie is almost entirely Paul Dano's Hank character interacting with deceased Manny, played by Daniel Radcliffe. Hank is on a small deserted island and has lost all hope. He's about to commit suicide and end it all for good when he sees Manny's body wash ashore. So desperate for human contact of any kind, he decides to scrap his plans for suicide and finds inspiration in silent Manny.

What follows is one of the most quirky films made in some time. A zombie bromance story. An imaginary friend movie. It's for the most part an incredibly quirky comedy, but there is certainly some heart in this film. Hank's character is truly tragic. Like the trash he discovers in the forest, he is a person disregarded by society - even before he was stranded. He is able to discover so much about himself through Manny. In a sense he is forced to rediscover everything that makes someone human, as Manny has no memory of his past life and Hank needs to start from square one. An unsettling revelation in the final moments of the film wrap things up quite nicely. Swiss Army Man has a place somewhere but it's definitely in a category of it's own.

Spring

Justin Benson, 2015

IMDB

3/5

Through skillful camera-work and intelligent storytelling, Spring resembles a love-child of Before Sunrise and Let the Right One In, if there ever was one. A genre-clash, it's a horror/romance film that mainly focuses on the lives of two people. Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci), a grieving drifter who impulsively decides to hop on a plane to Italy. And Louise (Nadia Hilker), a mysterious beauty who tries to capture Evan's heart quickly and doesn't want to wait until the next night for a date. Evan immediately comes off as a sympathetic figure, having to endure the final moments of his mother suffering from cancer and watching her fade off. His misfortunes mount as he gets let go from his bar-tending gig at the local dive which clearly serves as the last straw for him before he decides to get out of dodge.

Evan can probably be called the every-man in the sense that he's just a young guy willing to jump into the unknown looking for adventure. He's confident but self destructive. Aggressive but also vulnerable. The most impressive part of the film is in the sudden twist, when the entire construct of the picture radically shifts into different form. It's something that isn't done enough, and hopefully a film like this can inspire other filmmakers to make the bold jump into genre-bending. It's here when everything changes. It works really well, and if anything the film falls a little to in love with its new form and ends up running about a half hour too long. Other than that, it's a pretty engaging story between two completely different people. 

Dogtooth

Yorgos Lanthimos, 2009

IMDB

4/5

How refreshing it is to see a film made by a filmmaker who clearly has a unusual vision, seems to execute it the way that he wants without censoring himself or showing any restraint. Dogtooth is a film that appears to not be under any scrutiny by focus groups. It's completely bizarre, troubling at times, but completely intriguing. It even manages to inject some black comedy here and there. That particular technique seems to be more common with European cinema, where there is less of an emphasis on how a film is marketed.

Playing with themes of control and isolation, Lanthimos is able to construct this white-backed setting that to any casual observer would look like a rather pleasant place to grow up. But that would be to someone who grew up in regular society, with friends, normal parents who knew that there would be some questionable elements that your children would face. You wonder at times, why is the father so dead-set on keeping his children separated from the rest of the world. Obviously he doesn't want to expose them to the negative elements that are out there. Paranoid projections, past trauma causing unrealistic assumptions. Dogtooth is a philosophical film in a sense. Clearly what the mother and father are doing is completely wrong, certainly deserving of legal punishment. But what about when the children are well-fed, well taken care of? It brings up a lot of moral issues. But the lack of socialization, free-will, freedom of choice is undoubtedly damaging. That's probably the bottom line. That it's not up to your parents to create your world. You reach an age where it's your mortal right to flee the coop, to see whats out there. In a biological sense. And the children don't get any of these freedoms. Instead, they think that fish can appear in swimming pools and that cats are evil blood-thirsty creatures. Because of this, the parents are not much different than the real-life figures that we see on the news from time to time after a dungeon is uncovered after the imprisoned escape or someone discovers the whole thing. The mother and father are creating people who have inner cores of benevolence but are completely unprepared for the outside world. Lanthimos is able to skillfully create this little world that has you completely entranced, as disturbing as it is at times you can't look away. There's so much invention and artistic originality with Dogtooth. There's no other films like it. Even though you don't spend a lot of time in this fortified property, it's going to be in your brain forever after 90 minutes of being there.

Maps To The Stars

David Cronenberg, 2015

IMDB

4/5

Cronenberg is a man not afraid to go to dark places. With Maps he also shows he's a man not afraid to go to dark places and also not afraid to ruffle some feathers. Maps is an indictment on Hollywood and the celebrity culture that surrounds it. He does this all through a cast of rather dreadful characters. Sociopathic past-her-prime actress Havana Segrand (perfectly cast Julianne Moore in her boldest role since Boogie Nights). Mentally-ill assistant with a shady past Agatha Weiss (Mia Wasikowska). Charlatan health guru Dr. Weiss (John Cusack). Justin Bieber-esque spoiled rich actor kid Benjie Weiss (Evan Bird). Self medicating ghost in the house Christina Weiss (Olivia Williams). Nobody is really spared in the film. They are all figures that have their own ulterior motives, own selfish needs. There is nobody present that has much purity. And yet, with all of the darkness that is emanating through the story, its a completely seductive film. Maybe it's for the pure theater of it all. Maybe it's that you want to see certain people get what's coming to them. Maybe it's because you really want to see how far they will take it. What their personal limits really are. You want to see how low people really can go. How much of their own soul they are willing to sell for a piece of temporary success. Maps makes Los Angeles look like it's a city that belongs on another planet. Because the people in this story aren't really human. They are cold effigies. They are the hollow remnants of creatures that used to be human, but over time lost their souls. Can the L.A. culture really do this to you? Cronenberg would certainly have you believing so.

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst

Andrew Jarecki, 2015

IMDB

4/5

Andrew Jarecki is a filmmaker who isn’t afraid to venture into the darkness. He doesn't appear to be affected by the fact that you may be disturbed by his work, perhaps even put off. His 2003 documentary Capturing the Friedmans captures the unraveling of the Friedman family whose patriarch is charged with child molestation. He has a unique vision in the way that he approaches the Friedman family. He doesn't just lay out an indictment on a family accused of some of the worst acts you can be accused of. He lets you decide for yourself. With his HBO docu-series The Jinx, it’s not much different. Many of us, probably mostly Northeast Americans, are familiar with the Durst family. Most of us have at least heard of Robert Durst, wealthy eccentric man who is accused of slaying his wife and possibly others. We often convict public figures subconsciously, sometimes simply based on appearance. Sometimes people look guilty. Sometimes people look creepy. Durst is certainly a suspicious figure. He doesn't express emotion. He doesn't smile, he doesn't kid around. He doesn't appear to show a longing for his missing wife.

Jarecki has already explored the Durst family in his 2010 feature film All Good Things, starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst. The film is very much based on the real life events surrounding the Durst family. That film, while okay, was clearly not the right vessel for Jarecki whose strengths are really apparent in the documentary realm. But the one thing the film did is land him his interview with the real life Durst who saw the film and felt it gave him fair treatment. This is probably the opportunity of Jarecki's career, and this documentary series will certainly be the most talked about piece of work of his for years to come.

The series explores the insulation of wealth. It examines class structure in our country. It's a study on our imperfect judicial system which sometimes doesn't get it right. Episode one grips you, episode 4 shocks you. Episode 6 has you on the edge of your seat with your jaw dropped. You have to sit there and spend some time with this enigma of a person. Jarecki took a controversial mystery and put his artistic touch on it. Recreation of crime scenes, interviews with frustrated friends and family members, ex-police officers and investigators. He does some true investigative work. He can be accused of being predatory and baiting, but he also needs to be credited with giving Robert more of a benefit of a doubt than most filmmakers would be willing to do. He also is in front of the camera quite a bit, at times very uncomfortably. Confronting Douglas Durst and asking for an interview on the night of a big dedication dinner is a ballsy move. It’s almost like walking into Trump Tower and interrupting the Donald’s dinner and asking for a job. Even the interviewing process with Robert must be an uncomfortable one. The tension spills off the screen. Even if you are already aware of the outcome of the series from what you have seen in the headlines, it’s still worth the complete viewing. Your jaw will drop. Your eyes will be open wide.

This series broke some new ground. Instead of someone like Michael Moore placing pieces in an order that fits his ideology, Jarecki does some real investigative work that spans several years. The headlines and the finale are a little conveniently timed, there must have been some behind-the-scenes orchestration and collusion. It’s hard to debate that Jarecki ambushes Durst in the end for some self-serving reasons, but he had to do it right? And when all is said and done, we need to remember that at the very foundation of all of this is a medium of entertainment. And the trade off is closure for some of the family and friends of the victims. So a cold case finally gets some real answers. And that is worth it, right?

Starred Up

David Mackenzie, 2014

GoWatchit

4/5

Eric Love (Jack O'Connell) is moved to an adult prison where he realizes his father Neville (Ben Mendelsohn) is also serving time.

Starred Up is the term for when a young criminal is relocated from a juvenile facility to an adult one. Mackenzie's prison drama is less of an epic drama like The Shawshank Redemption and more of a focus on a singular figure behind bars like 2009's A Prophet. It has that same grit, the same candor. At times it's tough to watch, some disturbing imagery and language. But it feels authentic. And if it weren't for movies like this, how would we ever visit what's behind those cold stone walls? Starred is bound to trigger memories of fellow British prisoner Charles Bronson, who Tom Hardy played in Nicholas Winding-Refn's 2008 Bronson film. Like Bronson, Eric Love is an uncontrollable force constantly at odds with the guards or anyone in any kind of position of authority. You are fed bits of his upbringing, which are obviously contributory to his life of crime that landed him in the situation he's in. Child abuse, an absent father, no guidance. He never really had a chance. And if it weren't for counselor/psychologist Oliver Baumer (Rupert Friend), the system would just consume Eric and he would be another causality of the English justice system or would at the very least be a permanent prisoner number for the rest of his long life. The fact that he encounters his own father in the prison reinforces the need to confront his anger if he's going to move forward in any way. Eric's rage has snowballed to the point that it's at a boiling point. Oliver serves as the only relief valve, and if he doesn't at least try to mitigate the rage Deputy Governor Haynes is going to exterminate Eric to eliminate any more headache. It seems like there is always that one ambiguously neutral force like Baumer. They always stand as the critical liaison of the prisoners and the guards. It's likely the guards have become so jaded over the years that their expectations are incredibly low of the prisoners. They seemingly have no confidence that any of the prisoners can truly be rehabilitated. They would rather get through their daily shifts with the least amount of conflict, and they can reduce the conflict by inflicting their own force upon the prisoners. Fighting violence with violence, how much sense that makes.

The dialogue in this film is so quick and at times difficult to understand. You might want to watch it with the subtitles turned on (like me). Mackenzie manages to solicit a moderate amount of sympathy for Eric Love. If he doesn't manage to do this, the movie likely fails because it's difficult to get invested in a deplorable criminal. Eric is obviously a guilty person, rightfully serving his time. But at least there is some glimmer of hope that he will be able to be rehabilitated in some shape or form. You don't need a complete transformation with a story like this. You just need a slight arch, and this movie succeeds in bringing that.

Sightseers

Ben Wheatley, 2013

Can I Stream It?

3/5

Couple Tina (Alice Lowe) and Chris (Steve Oram) are excited to go on a holiday with Chris' caravan. But the romantic getaway that they are expecting to enjoy is interrupted by many unexpected elements which threaten their good time.

First off, at the time that this review was written Netflix happened to have this film streaming. But not quite categorized correctly. It was in the comedy section with a very vague description. You may make the same mistake and assume you are putting on a dark English comedy, like a rougher version of Albert Brooks' Lost in America. Not quite. In fact, the only similarity between the two movies is there happens to be two people in an RV together. Sightseers is a hostile piece, quite brutal at times. And sure, there are some comedic moments. But it's certainly a black comedy Brit-horror piece with the coldness of Harold and Maude combined with the unforgiving brutality of Red White & Blue.

Wheatley's road trip from hell with two complete sociopaths at the wheel is intriguing. You have Tina, insecure and passionate woman who early on appears to simply be a loyal girlfriend. You have Chris, who appears to be a burly outdoorsy guy eager to escape suburbia and set out for nature. But the tone is set early when you see Tina eager to escape the grip of her overbearing mother. Her mother, quite wretched and bitter, still blames Tina for the death of their beloved Jack Russell Terrier. There are no warm goodbyes exchanged as they depart for their trip. You soon discover that Chris has a short fuse, where a simple discarding of trash on the ground can set him off fiercely and quickly. You wonder for a moment whether Tina will discover these quirks and go her separate way only to find that no...she has her own issues involving violent impulses and jealousy. One of the most unsettling elements in the film is the horrible events that occur in such an innocent and natural setting. State parks, campgrounds, historic sites. We all find ourselves in places like this, and to think of someone like this crossing your path is unsettling. Of course Tina and Chris are completely fictionalized monsters, but there are people that exist that have a similar disregard for human life. Wheatley puts a nefarious couple on screen that will stick with you. Next time you decide to go camping, you will probably be more inclined to keep to yourself. 

Under the Skin

Jonathan Glazer, 2014

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Set in Scotland, a shape-shifting alien creature is secretly killing young men in an effort to feed a mysterious source. Soon the carefully maintained routine is disrupted when the seductress begins to gain an awareness, suddenly seeing the human race as something more than just lustful meat.

Under the Skin has a lingering quality to it, a quality existent in Glazer's past film Sexy Beast. But while Sexy Beast was simply rooted in great performances, this picture's lingering qualities are more obvious, more impacting, more elaborate. More intriguing. Glazer's cold black predatory piece plays out like a David Lynch created hybrid of Stephen King's Sleepwalkers and M. Night Shyamalan's Signs. The chilling score is noticeable from the get-go as the hum and the heartbeat manipulates your senses. Some of the images dance slowly across the screen, never slowing down to a bore.

Scarlett Johansson's femme fatale creature is calculating, tactical. She's precise in her pursuit. If there is any compromising moment in the hunt, she scraps the moment and moves on to the next attempt. Using sex as bait on young men is just too effective. When you see a black wigged, made-up Scarlett how can you not get into a van with her? The fact that these scenes were filmed using hidden cameras on oblivious walker-bys without making that segment of the film gimmicky only adds to Glazer's skilled film-making abilities. It's a film that almost demands to be re-watched, as you are likely to find little marks here and there that you may have missed. It's the long-awaited true Cinephile's alien movie. And although the film gets lost a little bit in it's own abstraction as the female creature begins to empathize with the human race, the memorable imagery never slips between the cracks. When the two humans are submerged and the one sees the other get "processed", how are you to ever erase that from your brain? There is an artful brutality to this picture that Nicholas Winding Refn only wishes he could have achieved in Only God Forgives. So many aspects that will stick with you for days, months maybe. Mica Levi's score is so much like the background noise we heard in The Master or There Will be Blood, but it's so brilliantly embedded in the fabric of the film that hearing anything remotely resembling the sounds after will trigger your memories and have you looking behind your back for a Dodge Sprinter as you walk down an empty street. As the cold temptress creeps through the Scottish city, Glazer forces you to look at your own race through a different set of eyes. You sympathize with the poor young men that are so unfortunate to fall victim to their own libido. But you soon find yourself sympathizing with the very creature that so mercilessly takes them from the world. Another testament to Glazer's pure brilliance with making this film. Under the Skin is a hypnotic art piece. So cleverly disturbing without being pure gore, and unnerving without using any horror cliches.

Cheap Thrills

E.L. Katz, 2014

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Craig (Pat Healy) is drowning his financial sorrows at a Los Angeles dive bar when he runs into old high school friend Vince (Ethan Embry) who he hasn't seen in five years. The two of them meet Colin (David Koechner) and Violet (Sara Paxton) who are celebrating Violet's birthday. Craig and Vince end up performing various antics for the couple for quick cash in an effort to get out of their desperate financial state.

Back in my bar-hopping days, my friends and I would play a hypothetical game with each other. It was never an official game that would be scheduled for any reason, nor did we ever really give it an official name. It was very loosely called the whats your price game. Someone in the group would provide a shocking activity, something like losing a limb or losing an eye and the conversation would circulate between the group to see what everyone's price was to perform said action. It would generate some short-term provocative discussion, but would never result in anything physically. Years later comes along this film Cheap Thrills, which is probably the closest thing to the whats your price game in film form.

Two surprising elements in this film from the get-go are the casting decisions. You see Ethan Embry in the credits, yet it probably takes you a few minutes to actually realize WHO he is in the film. He's no longer the baby-faced twenty-something from Empire Records. He really looks like he's put some years on that face. He's now the middle-aged slob with the cheap beanie and two-week beard. Then you have David Koechner, who would traditionally be cast in an Adam McKay-led comedy. He has dipped his toes in similarly less-comedic waters (Final Destination 5, Piranha), but this is certainly a different flavor. There's comedy present, but oh boy it's dark. His Colin character is by no means a strictly serious personality, and Koechner's typical persona certainly comes through and really works here. The Colin character is a rich sadist throwing dollar bills at each deplorable stunt. The smug, made-up Violet sits by his side immobile like a mannequin. The deplorable acts get progressively worse as the stakes are raised. Nobody is watching the clock more than Craig, who has a worried wife at home with his baby. Craig figures that the next action will be his last, and then he can finally leave the madhouse that he has been spending the last few hours in, this madhouse that at times reminds you of the firecracker-popping crack-den in Boogie Nights. All that's missing is the Rick Springfield anthem playing in the background, instead here it's some biting Dubstep. And you only spent about twenty minutes in Rahad's den in Boogie Nights. Here, you are not going anywhere that quickly. You probably want to, but there's that next stunt. That next payout. For Craig, that next payout will help him and his family get out of the rut. He will no longer be an embarrassment. For Vince, it's a new beginning. A chance to start over. Who knows, maybe get on the right path so that he can have a wife and kid too. Each passing moment brings along another morally-compromising idea coupled with more diminishing intoxication. The two men may have been old friends but their loyalty is tested, then tested again, and again.

It's a disturbing, drug-induced game show. Almost like the suspenseful offspring of an Irreversible and Compliance (which also featured Pat Healy). A showcase of clouded judgement. Blind faith in absolute strangers. Diametric character unraveling. A downward spiral. Stretched limits. Two different life paths colliding, coming together for one night where the two forces are after the same thing. Brutal. Barbarous. As things continue to go deeper, you sit there wondering how it will end. How CAN it end? You should be compensated for getting through the film not because it's poorly made (it's not) but because it's challenges you in a way most films don't, or can't. At least not within the rating confines of the MPAA. Perhaps it's why Cheap Thrills unrated. Maybe it's better that way. A watered down version of this picture would have fallen into a different category, probably artless gore-porn. Cheap Thrills also deserves credit for it's clever tagline: "What doesn't kill you makes you richer".

Prisoners

Denis Villeneuve, 2013

Amazon Instant Video

4/5

Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and his wife Grace (Maria Bello) are spending some time with their neighbors Franklin (Terrance Howard) and Nancy Birch (Viola Davis). Their girls ask to go play at their house. They return home not long after only to find the two girls missing. With a suspicious RV in the neighborhood the police act quickly. Not feeling that the police investigated the initial suspect thoroughly, Keller loses faith in the police and decides to perform his own investigation for the girls independently, knowing that with each hour passing without their return the hope diminishes.

Prisoners is a tough film to get through. Not because its a poorly made film, it's quite the opposite. It's an exceptional film. It's just disturbing at the same time. A film that could have easily made this blog's Top 5 great films I don't want to see again. It's a difficult two hour ordeal involving child abduction, one of those horrific scenarios that everyone fears and doesn't want to think about. And it plays on that theme so well. At times it's likely to remind you of similarly themed kidnapping films Gone Baby Gone, Ransom, Taken or even Mystic River. But Prisoners stands out on it's own. Notes of desperation, suspicions of all of the shady characters embedded in the community (and there's no shortage of shady characters here), degradation of hope, loss of spirit. Even the small, rural town of Conyers Pennsylvania is bleak. It rains a lot, and when it's not raining or snowing the sun doesn't really resurface - it just sort of stays miserably overcast. This is no mistake by Villeneuve, who clearly wants the town of Conyers to have a more dreary air to it. The mechanics of such a film wouldn't work so well if the parents woke up to a sunny sky, almost hinting that things are going to get better. Instead, Keller and Grace don't really wake up because they hardly sleep. And when the daylight hits the windows, it's just another day that they spend every waking moment trying to find their daughter Anna. Next door there's no shortage of grief either as the well-off Birch family holds out. But the film has more of a focus on the Dover's. Their characters are more layered. Not financially stable. Their struggles feel identifiable, more realistic. Keller struggles to find carpentry work while also doomsday prepping in his well-organized basement. His son asks for some financial support in purchasing his first car and Keller almost immediately states that it's an impossibility. Clearly things can always get worse. And of course they do.

Jackman puts his Wolverine claws in the closet and delivers what's arguably the best performance of his character, full of nuance. A religious man, a recovering alcoholic who has already been to hell and back in the past. A man who likely at a certain limit only to have it pushed further. His morals become compromised, he makes drastic decisions, but you understand. He maintains conscience, at times even feeling desperate for a church confessional. Jake Gyllenhaal's performance as the twitchy Detective Loki is a bit restrained but his determined yet calculating demeanor is interesting. Keller unfortunately doesn't see how hard Loki is on himself. Character actor Paul Dano nails it as peculiar loner Alex Jones. Melissa Leo is the chameleon she always is. Maria Bello so perfectly demonstrates the complete collapse of one's character. The years that a trauma can put on someones mind and physical attributes, like that person you know in your town who lost a child years back that everyone feels so sorry for when they see her at the gas station while she hides her face. From beginning to end the cast performs like a gloomy symphony of melodrama. The final moments of the picture play on some of the notes of Silence of the Lambs, perhaps making more of an impact on you as you watch the the credits roll. Prisoners will without a doubt stick with you, for good or bad. 

Top 5 Great Films I Don't Want to See Again

5. Black Swan 

(Darren Aronofsky, 2010)

It's hard to say exactly why this makes the list, but it just does. There's something haunting about this one.

4. Chained
(Jennifer Chambers Lynch, 2012)

David Lynch's daughter certainly inherited some of the directorial chops from her Dad, but she has a different vision that isn't necessarily bad... just different. Vincent D'Onofrio is good (like always), and also more warped than his serial killer character in the under-rated The Cell.

3. Requiem for a Dream 
(Darren Aronofsky, 2000)

A film likely to be on most people's lists. A film that can't be UNSEEN. There are a handful of scenes in this one that quite often pop up in my mind.

2. Irreversible 
(Gaspar Noe, 2002)

Gaspar Noe's best work. So good. But so disturbing.

1. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father 
(Kurt Kuenne, 2008)

It's a really moving piece. Directed by Kurt Kuenne, the film is an ode to his murdered friend after his ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son. Although filled with heartbreak, it's ultimately one of the most gripping documentaries you'll ever see. You need to make the time for this one if you haven't seen it. And of course, once you see it... you won't want to see it again.


Honorable Mentions:

The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)
Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis, 1995)
Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, 2004)

12 Years a Slave

Steve McQueen, 2013

4/5

Solomon Nothrup is a free man living in Saratoga. A skilled fiddle player, he is convinced by a couple pf men to travel to Washington to perform. Soon after he arrives, he is Shanghaied and sold into slavery. His requests to be freed on the account of being a free man from the north fall on deaf ears.

McQueen's adaptation of the Solomon Northrup memoir is an honest one. A true account of a tragic story. A very raw display of one of the true American horrors. McQueen is a skilled filmmaker and the technique involved in this picture is very deliberate. A lot of close to medium shots. Long takes, a lot of hanging on a shot, longer than one would expect. It's all intentional. He wants to enslave the audience, and he is effective at that. The tendency to cringe at what you are seeing, amd you do. The urge to look away, and you try to. It is also a film that wants to be heard, with Hans Zimmer providing the score. And so the pieces come together and the result is an ominous construct of deception. And the film is not over-stylized like Tarantino's very popular Django Unchained. That makes it feel more personal. While there is plenty of disturbing imagery in the film (possibly some of the worst you'll ever see), what makes the film truly upsetting is the truth behind it. You are seeing what your fellow man is capable of doing. What humanity is capable of. That's what makes it truly horrific. Manipulation, deception, betrayal, heartache, loneliness, theft. And not just theft of a person's livelihood. Not only a theft of a man's name. Theft of the human spirit. Northrup is living an honest life in Saratoga. A threat to no one but a set of fiddle strings. A family man, one who pays his taxes, has an honest job. The separation of North of South feels quite skewed when there is a threat of a southerner making their way up only to double-cross an honest man only because of his skin color. And so he is Shanghaied. He is not stripped of his freedom but his existence.

Great performances throughout. Chiwetel Ejiofor is well equipped to play Northrup. He will likely earn an Oscar nomination, and the praise is well-earned. Paul Dano plays the chilling Tibeats. Avenging after being undermined, he holds a grudge and doesn't value any real principles. Paul Giamatti plays a horrible slave trader Freeman, pawning off humans as if they are livestock, even if it involves separating mother from child. McQueen once again works with Michael Fassbender, who has appeared in all three of his feature films. Fassbender is so wonderfully despicable here. Hidden under the false charm of his Southern regalia, he puts the slaves in strict competition over cotton volume and on lonely nights forces them to dance to his own amusement while he stands around in bare-feet and loose garments. His temper is short and can be triggered by his repellent wife (played by the great Sarah Paulson). 

A story of perseverance, personal fortitude, but also one of shame. Germany may have the scar of Nazism on its face but we will always have slavery on ours. While the title of the film may give the ending away, it's not only about whether or not Solomon Northrup is eventually freed. There is no happy Hollywood ending to this piece. Taking 12 years away from a man not only strips him of time he cannot get back, it strips him of a certain freedom for the rest of his life. And what justice can be made for such time? Hard to quantify it. That's what makes it such a true American tragedy.

Blackfish

Gabriela Cowperthwaite, 2013

3/5

Seaworld continues to operate, even after trainers have been killed by killer whale Tilikum. This documentary interviews past trainers, past employees, and family and friends of the victims who detail their experience of their lives involved with working with the Orcas.

An interesting yet disturbing look at some of the most beautiful creatures on earth. Killer Whales that have been confined, exploited, and basically tortured for most of their lives in captivity. The film is quite deliberate, clearly trying to stir the pot of the Seaworld culture, hoping to draw attention to years of abuse to these intelligent creatures and to attempt to clear the air on some past incidents. There is clearly no positive effect to keeping these animals in captivity other than profiting from their elementary stunts that they are quite obviously underemployed to do. They are creatures that we hardly understand. The Seaworld corporation demonstrates one of the worst sides of the human race, throwing compassion out of the window for a buck. Their business ideals seem to match that of Monsantos, trying to drive profits and pay legal teams to cover their asses. And the Orcas are not the only ones to garner sympathy in the film. The trainers are also victimized by the Seaworld machine. Seaworld takes advantage of the trainers urge to work with animals and brainwashes them to believe the animals are enjoying their stay, and tries to sweep past incidents under the carpet.

Seaworld is not going to close their doors unless they start hating money, and that isn't going to happen anytime soon. Therefore, the market must dictate what happens. As long as people are sitting in the seats waiting for the obligatory splash from the tortured Orca, it wont end. At the very least, this film should at least make people think twice before visiting the park with their children. One of the subjects of the film mentions at one point: "In fifty years, we're probably going to look back on this chapter and see how barbaric we were". While the film succeeds in delivering its message, the resistance by Seaworld to be interviewed limits the perspective. Seeing the old school Seaworld commercials certainly provides a creepy tone. Listening to the ex-trainers recount is compelling. But overall it doesn't make a lasting impact, and feels like it could easily be more of a 60 Minutes special than a full documentary.

Chained

Jennifer Chambers Lynch, 2012


3/5

Lynch directs this torture-horror picture about a serial killer who traps his victims with his taxi cab and brings them to his house to kill them. He uses a boy, son of a past victim, as a slave in his home to help clean up his messes and work on his scrapbook which details his slayings.

Lynch's work is probably the creative equivalent of bringing Eli Roth home on a date to meet her father David. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Just different from a film that her father would make, and of course she is going to be forced to endure countless comparisons from the film community given the impact that David Lynch has had on modern cinema. She has certainly picked up some of the chops, while the film is quite disturbing at times it still maintains an artful quality to it. D'Onofrio disappears into his role as Bob, proving that he can become an even more involved killer than his character in The Cell. His victim, Rabbit (Eamon Farren), maintains a very obvious sympathetic edge throughout the film, as he sits in the run down shack malnourished eating the scraps left behind by Bob. When it comes to the attention to set design, the serial killer's house is so chilling the Fedex guy would be afraid to place a package on the front steps. The visual canvas of the film is laid out using a lot of bleak colors, and when you are in the presence of some light it's usually a circa 1970's lamp providing a disconcerting glow throughout the filthy shack. The windows are boarded up. The basement, which is home to the remains of the many victims, is lit only and ironically by Christmas lights. Night falls, and the glow of fluorescent-lit "Comfort" written on the top of the Taxi Cab provides the same tension you feel when trapped in the house with the monster. Lynch not only plays off of visual cues but also with sound as well. There is a very present bass-driven hum throughout the film, maintaining a sense of impending horror. To sum it all up... it's a film that will appeal to the horror fan, but anyone that's planning a re-watch really needs a psychological evaluation.

Only God Forgives

Nicolas Winding Refn, 2013


3/5

Set in Bangkok, Refn's followup to Drive once again features Ryan Gosling in the lead. Gosling plays Julian, gangster & fight club owner. Julian gets news that his brother Billy has been killed. Julian's mother arrives in Thailand eager for revenge, while the renegade cop who was responsible for the death is on their heels the entire time.

First off, it's a wonderfully shot film. In fact, there's not one bad shot in the entire picture. The glowing of red through the beginning, the scenes with the very neon-like aesthetic. It paints Bangkok in a way that's very much like the way Gaspar Noe painted Tokyo in Enter the Void. The stunning look of the Karaoke bars are similar to the scenes in Hanna where the villain is whistling the catchy "The Devil is in the Details. There's a disconcerting element to the streetscape, but it's very easy on the eyes.

The film combines the sudden disturbing elements one would come to expect from Refn along with some of the abstract characteristics of a David Lynch picture.  Refn always has a clever use of sound. The score to this film is much more immersed than the electro-pop soundtrack in Drive. There's certainly no Kavinsky to be heard here. Refn certainly finds new ways to end human lives. Refn works his craft as the body count rises.

Gosling's character Julian is quiet, reserved (surprised?). The lack of dialogue is very much similar to his role in Drive, but there's certainly some distinction here. Any heart that his character had in Drive is absent in this piece. Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm), the blade-wielding retired cop, could go down as one of the more memorable villains in cinema. His renegade-like attitude is very similar to fellow cop Stansfield (Gary Oldman) in Leon: The Professional. Both are cold and lack hesitation to slaughter at will. Both lack the moral structure one would expect from a man of the law. When you first see Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas), Julian's mother, it further constructs his past. And it ain't pretty. Her vitriolic tongue spits out whatever venom is on the surface and there's no hesitation. It's quite clear that the only affection she had was really spent on his brother Billy.

It's a controversial piece. Rumors of booing as Cannes started circulating, along with rumors of people vomiting during some of the scenes. Refn is a true auteur, unaffected by public opinion. He appeared to make a film here for himself, and you can come along for the ride but he doesn't care much if you enjoy it. There's something to this film. At times hard to watch, but for the right reasons. Some people may be hungry for more story, and it's a fair argument. While some of the moments are hard to watch, there's still a very adhesive quality to the film.

Battle Royale

Kinji Fukasaku, 2000

4/5

Part of an effort of controlling students during extensive social unrest, the Japanese government creates a program to counteract the rebellion. Every year, a single class of Japanese students are put on a remote island and forced to fight each other to the death.

This blood-splattered Japanese blockbuster by Fukasaku immediately draws comparisons to The Hunger Games. The comparison is fitting, however, this picture lacks all of the glitz and glamour of The Hunger Games and that's not a bad thing. In fact, the novel that this film was adapted from was actually published in 1996, 12 years before The Hunger Games novel was even published - making this the true original. This is a colder piece, much less forgiving and much more gory and violent. There's no Elizabeth Banks with white makeup caked on her face here, but a cold-hearted schoolteacher eager to see vengeance played out before him from past students who mistreated and disrespected him when they were under his schooling. 

The blood packets burst early in the film, with the plot laid out rather directly and efficiently. From there, it plays out in a video-game like formulation similar to The Raid Redemption or Kill Bill with progressive difficulty. The classical music playing in the background throughout the film is chilling but fitting. This is because while these students are killing each other off in brutal fashion, there is an artful touch to it. Each kill is unique, and while disturbing, there is something to appreciate about it. Sometimes the students are able to call back on past bullying, or jealousy... but sometimes it's just about having to kill their fellow student so that they them self can survive. It's not a perfect film, some of the gunfights are rather cartoonish in the sense that they are shooting each other at close-range and not hitting their targets. Some of the delayed killing is very much like a cheesy 80's film with the stretched dialogue (ie. "You know I should kill you right now, but I'm going to give you this long speech about how much I hate you first") which inevitably leads to some kind of reversal. In the end though, it's very well done and certainly makes an impression. And it really makes The Hunger Games look VERY derivative. Fukasaku was working on a sequel to the film but unfortunately died of cancer in 2003 after shooting one scene. His son completed the rest of the project and released Battle Royale II: Requiem shortly after. 

Hellraiser

Clive Barker, 1987


2/5

Larry (Andrew Robinson) and Julia (Clare Higgins) move into Larry's childhood home to get away from the city. When moving in they discover that his long-lost, not-really-missed brother Frank had been staying there some time ago. What they don't realize, is that he's actually still in the house in some form: just trapped in an alternate dimension with demonic torturers.

The campy film runs on some quality editing and surprisingly good effects. At times some of the visual effects are similar to those in The Fly. Other times they appear to almost be on par with Alien. The only time this becomes distracting is when you see that horrible, much forgotten 80's electricity effect. The only part of Back to the Future I do not welcome with open arms. The only part of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure that does not bring a smile to my face. The progression of Frank from slime to mobile zombie is quite entertaining. Other features of the film are feel very dated (fashion, humor, sound). The deterioration of Julia feels far-fetched and forceful. Larry's character feels like a caricature of 1980's Dad. Their daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) is the quintessential frightened female who doesn't know which door to run into. In the end, while there may be a mildly surprising twist in the final act, the film feels anachronous and predictable.  

Game of Thrones (Season 3)

David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, 2013


5/5

          There has been much bloodshed, and no end is in sight. Rumors of dragons continue to echo through the world. Many of the royal families have endured much loss and many of of them are struggling to find their way back to each other. The death of Ned Stark still lingers. While Daenerys slowly builds her army piece by piece, King Joffrey Baratheon becomes more consumed with his rule in King's Landing. Robb Stark seeks vengeance for his father's death, while Stannis Baratheon continues to plan his next move using darker methods. 
          Season 3 of Game of Thrones appears to have more gore and torturous violence than the previous seasons. The series is incomparable, and each episode could be on par with any feature film. The study on such a barbaric existence that it makes you question what your own life expectancy would be if you were there. The series continues to prove that it's another trophy on the shelf of HBO's achievements, with much company. Each episode has a $6M budget, and you can see it in the rich effects and detailed set design. Joffrey Baratheon is one of the most cruel and sociopathic characters ever put on the screen. Still laughing over the scene where Tyrion asks him "did you kill any puppies today?" You get a sense of the arch's that are bound to happen at some point in the distant future. Some of the scenes this season are haunting, and will certainly stick with you (especially one of the episodes in particular, which may be one of the most shocking of the series thus far). Intricate story and sophisticated character structure, distinguished imagery. It's certainly hard to find a flaw with this series, and it continues to maintain all of its qualities. It's gained much popularity - fortunately or unfortunately. I would imagine years from now my son (who doesn't exist yet) will be dating girls named Sansa and Cersei - and they won't be nearly as interesting as the characters on Game of Thrones.

The Horde

Yannick Dahan & Benjamin Rocher, 2009


3/5

          In this French Zombie film, a small group of cops decide to raid a condemned apartment building where a group of gangsters are holding one of their own hostage. When they get into the building, they have to battle more than just gangsters.
          Okay, so there are a number of factors that go into making a zombie film nowadays and a lot of those details have a big impact on how effective the film will be. It's unarguably an over-saturated genre and there are certainly more losers than winners. One, how fast do they move? In this? Fast. Very reminiscent to the fast-moving zombies in 28 Days Later. Actually, they closely resemble those zombies than any other film in the genre. Two, are they actually scary? Yes. Very. Three, do the living know what they are dealing with, and do they attempt to fight them off in a manner that's original? Absolutely. Actually quite originally. What is appealing in this is their absolute inability to actually take them down. They have no idea why the dead are suddenly rising and why bullets seem to do nothing against them. Are there twists in the plot that will set this film apart from EVERY other zombie film? Eh, not really but that's okay. The world falling apart around them, how realistic is it? Because it focuses on the events unfolding in the building itself, the explosion-filled skies and the distant booms become more of a backdrop.
          The Horde succeeds in the sense that it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. It know's exactly what it is and doesn't try to be anything else. It focuses on the style and not so much on the substance. The story itself doesn't carry a lot of weight, nor does it really need to. Sure, it adds an interesting dynamic in the sense that the humans don't even like each other let alone whats on the other side of the door. But the tension between them seems to dissipate to a point where it's not so evident. The "OH SHIT" scenes where they find themselves cornered, while predictable, are still suspenseful and are well-crafted. The scene with Ouessem (Jean-Pierre Martins) standing on top of the car was beautifully orchestrated and well-shot. The film is very similar to The Raid Redemption except it's taking a converse trajectory. These people are trying to make their way DOWN the steps to the first level to get out of the building, not even focusing on what they are actually going to have to confront when they get out of the condemned building. One of the most thought-provoking concepts with the zombie genre are the constant moral dilemmas. There's also the common questions that go through your head while watching. You're likely going to gravitate to a specific character during the film. Is he/she going to make it to the end? And even if they do, what kind of world are they going to be living in? Do they even want to be living in it? Life seems awfully cheap when you see people around you falling rapidly and your very existence hinges on you simply not tripping over your own feet.

I Stand Alone

Gaspar Noe, 1998


3/5 

          The butcher has fallen into some hard-times. His meat shop went under after he had to serve time in jail, and after his release he cannot seem to get back on track. His struggle to find employment is not the only conflict in his life - he is living with a woman he deeply resents and also hasn't seen his institutionalized daughter in some time.
          It's difficult to say that you LIKE a Gaspar Noe film. I don't believe his films are intended on being liked, or disliked. They are intended to be processed, and interpreted in different ways. A Director tied to the New French Extremity, Noe is not afraid to approach taboo subjects such as incest, rape or abortion. At this point I've seen all three feature length films he's directed and they have all left me with the same feeling. That feeling is indescribable in a sense. For lack of a better word, I will just say that I've been affected by them. That being said, these three films all seem to have a certain theme to them. I Stand Alone examines morality. Irreversible examines impulse. Enter the Void examines consciousness. They all perform these examinations with little to no filter. And Noe certainly has a lot to say.
          I Stand Alone, while completely raw and graphic, is a well crafted film. Impressive camera work, such as the gunshot sound effect followed by the snap zoom. The music fueled truck ride when The Butcher hitchhikes. The claustrophobic scenes in the cheap apartments. The pan & tilt Paris street-shot at the end of the film. The narrative dialogue in the film could quite be the most graphic feature. Almost entirely in The Butcher's nihilistic thoughts, you are present for his all-consuming, unfocused anger that is projected toward anyone and anything that has challenged him.
          The Butcher is a proud man. He is an old school, blue-collared orphan who has a passion for his meat-cutting and that only. Nothing can compare, and he refuses to take on any occupation that he considers would be under-employing himself. Not everybody loves Paris, and he is one of them. Not one to hold back his disgust for the city, he traverses the gloomy slums and frequents the smoky dives for his small glass of vino. The Butcher's insurgent philosophical ranting displays Noe's raw but superior writing ability to the not-so-good screw-it-all soliloquies such as Ed Norton's character Monty in Spike Lee's The 25th Hour (over-rated). The Butcher is riddled with so much anger I wonder what kind of person he would be if things fell into place for him. What if he got hired by a prestigious meat-shop? What if he met the love of his life in some strange coincidence? But this doesn't happen. The Butcher seems to be destined for bad luck, and things seem to only get worse and worse for him. In that sense, while he is a man of many mistakes, there is a sympathetic side to his character.